designSynology have improved this case and it is great to see the new 2-Bay chassis being utilised. The device arrives with much better specs than the DS216 before it and with almost double the stats and an 64bit Chip, the DS218 is an impressive starter NAS.featuresEasily the best standard 2-Bay NAS synology have released. If your budget is tight, then this is possible the best price vs power NAS out there, supporting almost every application and NAS task you need. Though Plex Transcoding is not really an option - though native transcoding is more than possible. performanceThe improved Realtek CPU and DDR4 memory mean that options like 4k, transcoding natively and most file level network applications are conducted very well.valueAll in all, the best standard class NAS from Synology we have seen in a few years. Recommended for Surveillance, backups, file level access and sharing files easily - this si a good, solid NAS.

designThose familiar with NAS may find the unit a little limiting - but for the budget and the hardware, it is still quite a bargain.featuresThe lack of an intel / x86 based CPU, mean that transcoding in plex is not really an option.performanceIt will stumble a little with higher end / dense multimedia applications.valueIf your budget can allow it, we recommend the DS218+ unit as it will give you far higher power at your finger tips

General Performance

The DS218 same as the RS217 is made by Synology. People often choose Synology because of user friendly interface as well as being suited for Mac and Windows based environments. It is relatively easy to set up and use, and those who are new to Network Attached Storage are advised to go for the Synology. Unlike the RS217 this box has the Realtek RTD1296 64-bit Quad Core 1.4 GHz processor. With its 64bit processor, this box should have no trouble transcoding your videos up to 1080P via the native MANUFACTURER apps. Another key difference between the RS217 is RAM. DS218 arrives with 2GB RAM.

About Connections

There is one LAN port on this box, making it a simple home NAS. Two USB3 ports on this Synology is offering you up to 5Gb/s transfer speeds of external devices. It is fast enough to get your files through fairly quickly with this speed and make backing up with an external drive or Apple Time Machine a quick and easy process.

About Usage

With two bay unit you are having additional advantages. You may choose your box to be set up as JBOD, RAID0 or RAID1.
RAID 0 would be good for non-critical storage of data when you need it to read and written at high speeds. It could give you good performance. Besides you can still access your documents or media files over your private network or even internet.

Price And Warranty

This box comes with 2 year warranty for your peace of mind and long term hardware security. This Synology is £166.00 cheaper than the most expensive unit RS217.

General Performance

The RS217 same as the DS218 is made by Synology. People often choose Synology because of user friendly interface as well as being suited for Mac and Windows based environments. It is relatively easy to set up and use, and those who are new to Network Attached Storage are advised to go for the Synology. Unlike the DS218 this box has the Marvell Armada 385 88F6820 - Dual Core 1.33 GHz processor. Another key difference between the DS218 is RAM. RS217 arrives with 512MB RAM. It has 512MB RAM which is enough for home environments to do very simple tasks. The RS217 512MB RAM compared with DS218 2GB is clearly weaker.

About Connections

There are two LAN ports on this box, making it a good home or small business NAS as you can utilise Link Aggregation and Failover support. Two USB3 ports on this Synology is offering you up to 5Gb/s transfer speeds of external devices. It is fast enough to get your files through fairly quickly with this speed and make backing up with an external drive or Apple Time Machine a quick and easy process. There is one eSATA port on RS217 giving you up to 6Gb/s transfer speeds.

About Usage

With two bay unit you are having additional advantages. You may choose your box to be set up as JBOD, RAID0 or RAID1.
RAID 0 would be good for non-critical storage of data when you need it to read and written at high speeds. It could give you good performance. Besides you can still access your documents or media files over your private network or even internet.

Price And Warranty

This box comes with staggering 5 year warranty for your peace of mind and long term hardware security. Despite DS218 has better warranty, it is still good to know that you have your five years of no worries manufacturer cover. This is the most expensive box with the price tag £377.00.